Push for Republic’s quiet zone ends

City to get 3 new cruisers for police department patrol
 
After occasional discussion for more than a year, the issue of making Republic a railroad quiet zone ran out of track with the Republic City Council. At the March 15 council meeting, the body shot down the first real step in the process, an ordinance that would've paid for a study on the matter. The study, however, would've only been the initial cost in the project, an undertaking which would've likely surpassed $1 million in its finality.
Railroad quiet zones generally keep train engineers from blowing the train horn at crossings within towns. But the cost to get there can be steep, considering each crossing needs to be addressed with possible infrastructure upgrades.  
BUILDS director Andrew Nelson told the council that the project wasn't exactly a priority within his department, as many other infrastructure issues were more important. Nelson said the quiet zone study wasn't even in the top 10.    
After some discussion, the council voted 6-0 against going forward with the study.

New police cruisers
As part of the beginning consent agenda, the council OK'd the purchase of three new police vehicles to patrol Republic streets. The vehicles are 2022 Ford Interceptors costing $35,285 each from Corwin Ford. Each vehicle will come outfitted with safety equipment.

Insurance renewed
In other business, the council voted 6-0 to pass a resolution renewing the city's worker's compensation insurance with Missouri Rural Services Workers' Compensation Insurance, to the tune of $262,289.
The council also granted permission for the BUILDS department to apply for the Raise Grant through the Ozarks Transportation Organization for Highway MM realignment.     

'Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated' - Mark Twain
Two members not present for the meeting were Jim Deichman and Gerry Pool. Pool, who has been absent from proceedings for some months now, was reportedly in the hospital. Over the weekend, however, the City of Republic erroneously reported Pool's passing on the city's Facebook account, an error which was later corrected. Pool can now join Mark Twain, Betty White and Bob Hope on the list of celebrities whose demise was incorrectly reported.